This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to our use of cookies. To find out more, see our Privacy and Cookies policy.
Close this notification

Click here to close this overlay, or press the "Escape" key on your keyboard.

Click here to close this overlay, or press the "Escape" key on your keyboard.

A publishing partnership

Inevitability of Plate Tectonics on Super-Earths

, , and

Published 22 October 2007 © 2007. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
, ,

1538-4357/670/1/L45

Abstract

The recent discovery of super-Earths (masses ≤10 M) has initiated a discussion about conditions for habitable worlds. Among these is the mode of convection, which influences a planet's thermal evolution and surface conditions. On Earth, plate tectonics has been proposed as a necessary condition for life. Here we show that super-Earths will also have plate tectonics. We demonstrate that as planetary mass increases, the shear stress available to overcome resistance to plate motion increases while the plate thickness decreases, thereby enhancing plate weakness. These effects contribute favorably to the subduction of the lithosphere, an essential component of plate tectonics. Moreover, uncertainties in achieving plate tectonics in the 1 M regime disappear as mass increases: super-Earths, even if dry, will exhibit plate tectonic behavior.

Export citation and abstract BibTeX RIS

References

  • Afonso, J. C., Ranalli, G., & Fernandez, M. 2007, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L10302

    CrossrefADS

  • Beaulieu, J. P., et al. 2006, Nature, 439, 437

    CrossrefADSPubMed

  • Becker, T. W., Faccena, C., O'Connell, R. J., & Giardini, D. 1999, J. Geophys. Res., 104, 15207

    CrossrefADS

  • Becker, T. W., & O'Connell, R. J. 2001, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 2, 12

    Crossref

  • Chen, J., Inoue, T., Wiedner, D. J., Wu, Y., & Vaughan, M. T. 1998, Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 575

    CrossrefADS

  • Conrad, C. P., & Hager, B. H. 1999a, J. Geophys. Res., 104, 17551

    CrossrefADS

  • Conrad, C. P., & Hager, B. H. 1999b, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 3041

    CrossrefADS

  • Davies, G. F. 1980, J. Geophys. Res., 85, 2517

    CrossrefADS

  • Davies, G. F. 1993, Lithos, 30, 281

    Crossref

  • Halevy, I., Zuber, M. T., & Schrag, D. P. 2007, LPI Contrib., 1138, 1173

    ADS

  • Hynes, A. 2005, Int. Geol. Rev., 47, 938

    Crossref

  • Ida, S., & Lin, D. 2004, ApJ, 604, 388

    IOPscienceADS

  • Jellinek, M., O'Neill, C., & Lenardic, A. 2005, AGU Abstr. Fall, P33A-0230

    ADS

  • Kasting, J. F. 1996, Ap&SS, 241, 3

    ADS

  • Lovis, C., et al. 2006, Nature, 441, 305

    CrossrefADSPubMed

  • McDonough, W., & Sun, S.-S. 1995, Chem. Geol., 120, 223

    Crossref

  • Nimmo, F., & McKenzie, D. 1998, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 26, 23

    CrossrefADS

  • Nisbet, E. G., & Fowler, C. M. R. 1983, Geology, 11, 376

    CrossrefADS

  • O'Connell, R. J., & Hager, B. 1980, in Physics of the Earth's Interior, ed. A. M. Dziewonski & E. Boschi (North Holland: Elsevier), 270
  • Rivera, E. J., et al. 2005, ApJ, 634, 625

    IOPscienceADS

  • Royer, D. L., Berner, R. A., & Beerling, D. J. 2001, Earth Sci. Rev., 54, 349

    CrossrefADS

  • Sleep, N. H. 1992, Canadian J. Earth Sci., 29, 2066

    Crossref

  • Turcotte, D., & Schubert, G. 2002, Geodynamics 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press)

    CrossrefADS

  • Turcotte, D. L. 1993, J. Geophys. Res., 98, 17061

    CrossrefADS

  • Udry, S., et al. 2007, A&A, 469, L43

    CrossrefADS

  • Valencia, D., O'Connell, R. J., & Sasselov, D. D. 2006, Icarus, 181, 545

    CrossrefADS

  • Valencia, D., Sasselov, D. D., & O'Connell, R. J. 2007, ApJ, 665, 1413

    IOPscienceADS

  • Walker, J. C., Hayes, P. B., & Kasting, J. F. 1981, J. Geophys. Res., 86, 9776

    CrossrefADS

  • Zolotov, M. Y., Fegley, B., & Lodders, K. 1997, Icarus, 130, 475

    CrossrefADS

  • Zuber, M. T., et al. 2000, Science, 287, 1788

    CrossrefADSPubMed

Export references: BibTeX RIS

Citations

  1. Redox Evolution via Gravitational Differentiation on Low-mass Planets: Implications for Abiotic Oxygen, Water Loss, and Habitability
    R. D. Wordsworth et al. 2018 The Astronomical Journal 155 195

    IOPscience

  2. Contribution of the Core to the Thermal Evolution of Sub-Neptunes
    A. Vazan et al. 2018 The Astrophysical Journal 869 163

    IOPscience

  3. Abiotic O2 Levels on Planets around F, G, K, and M Stars: Effects of Lightning-produced Catalysts in Eliminating Oxygen False Positives
    C. E. Harman et al. 2018 The Astrophysical Journal 866 56

    IOPscience

  4. Habitability from Tidally Induced Tectonics
    Diana Valencia et al. 2018 The Astrophysical Journal 857 106

    IOPscience

  5. The fine structure constant and habitable planets
    McCullen Sandora 2016 Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics 2016 048

    IOPscience

  6. Effect of Surface-mantle Water Exchange Parameterizations on Exoplanet Ocean Depths
    Thaddeus D. Komacek and Dorian S. Abbot 2016 The Astrophysical Journal 832 54

    IOPscience

  7. Limit Cycles Can Reduce the Width of the Habitable Zone
    Jacob Haqq-Misra et al. 2016 The Astrophysical Journal 827 120

    IOPscience

  8. Emerging Possibilities and Insuperable Limitations of Exogeophysics: The Example of Plate Tectonics
    Vlada Stamenković and Sara Seager 2016 The Astrophysical Journal 825 78

    IOPscience

  9. Evolutionary Climate Tracks of Earth-like Planets
    S. Kadoya and E. Tajika 2015 The Astrophysical Journal Letters 815 L7

    IOPscience

  10. The Role of Plate Tectonic-Climate Coupling and Exposed Land Area in the Development of Habitable Climates on Rocky Planets
    Bradford J. Foley 2015 The Astrophysical Journal 812 36

    IOPscience

  11. Thorium Abundances in Solar Twins and Analogs: Implications for the Habitability of Extrasolar Planetary Systems
    Cayman T. Unterborn et al. 2015 The Astrophysical Journal 806 139

    IOPscience

  12. The Persistence of Oceans On Earth-like Planets: Insights from the Deep-water Cycle
    Laura Schaefer and Dimitar Sasselov 2015 The Astrophysical Journal 801 40

    IOPscience

  13. A Pilot Search for Evidence of Extrasolar Earth-analog Plate Tectonics
    M. Jura et al. 2014 The Astrophysical Journal Letters 791 L29

    IOPscience

  14. On the Vigor of Mantle Convection in Super-Earths
    Takehiro Miyagoshi et al. 2014 The Astrophysical Journal Letters 780 L8

    IOPscience

  15. The Role of Carbon in Extrasolar Planetary Geodynamics and Habitability
    Cayman T. Unterborn et al. 2014 The Astrophysical Journal 793 124

    IOPscience

  16. Structure and Dynamics of Cold Water Super-Earths: The Case of Occluded CH4 and Its Outgassing
    A. Levi et al. 2014 The Astrophysical Journal 792 125

    IOPscience

  17. Thermal-Orbital Coupled Tidal Heating and Habitability of Martian-sized Extrasolar Planets around M Stars
    D. Shoji and K. Kurita 2014 The Astrophysical Journal 789 3

    IOPscience

  18. Water Cycling between Ocean and Mantle: Super-Earths Need Not Be Waterworlds
    Nicolas B. Cowan and Dorian S. Abbot 2014 The Astrophysical Journal 781 27

    IOPscience

  19. Water Loss from Terrestrial Planets with CO2-rich Atmospheres
    R. D. Wordsworth and R. T. Pierrehumbert 2013 The Astrophysical Journal 778 154

    IOPscience

  20. A Possible Carbon-rich Interior in Super-Earth 55 Cancri e
    Nikku Madhusudhan et al. 2012 The Astrophysical Journal Letters 759 L40

    IOPscience

  21. Low Mg/Si Planetary Host Stars and Their Mg-depleted Terrestrial Planets
    Jade C. Carter-Bond et al. 2012 The Astrophysical Journal Letters 747 L2

    IOPscience

  22. The Compositional Diversity of Extrasolar Terrestrial Planets. II. Migration Simulations
    Jade C. Carter-Bond et al. 2012 The Astrophysical Journal 760 44

    IOPscience

  23. On the Notion of Well-defined Tectonic Regimes for Terrestrial Planets in this Solar System and Others
    A. Lenardic and J. W. Crowley 2012 The Astrophysical Journal 755 132

    IOPscience

  24. The Influence of Pressure-dependent Viscosity on the Thermal Evolution of Super-Earths
    Vlada Stamenković et al. 2012 The Astrophysical Journal 748 41

    IOPscience

  25. Model Spectra of the First Potentially Habitable Super-Earth—Gl581d
    Lisa Kaltenegger et al. 2011 The Astrophysical Journal 733 35

    IOPscience

  26. Thermal Evolution and Lifetime of Intrinsic Magnetic Fields of Super-Earths in Habitable Zones
    C. Tachinami et al. 2011 The Astrophysical Journal 726 70

    IOPscience

  27. On the Likelihood of Plate Tectonics on Super-Earths: Does Size Matter?
    Jun Korenaga 2010 The Astrophysical Journal Letters 725 L43

    IOPscience

  28. Detecting Volcanism on Extrasolar Planets
    L. Kaltenegger et al. 2010 The Astronomical Journal 140 1370

    IOPscience

  29. The physical properties of extra-solar planets
    I Baraffe et al 2010 Reports on Progress in Physics 73 016901

    IOPscience

  30. Thermodynamic Limits on Magnetodynamos in Rocky Exoplanets
    Eric Gaidos et al. 2010 The Astrophysical Journal 718 596

    IOPscience

  31. The Compositional Diversity of Extrasolar Terrestrial Planets. I. In Situ Simulations
    Jade C. Bond et al. 2010 The Astrophysical Journal 715 1050

    IOPscience

  32. The Interior Dynamics of Water Planets
    Roger Fu et al. 2010 The Astrophysical Journal 708 1326

    IOPscience

  33. Detecting Planetary Geochemical Cycles on Exoplanets: Atmospheric Signatures and the Case of SO2
    L. Kaltenegger and D. Sasselov 2010 The Astrophysical Journal 708 1162

    IOPscience

  34. Geodynamics and Rate of Volcanism on Massive Earth-like Planets
    E. S. Kite et al. 2009 The Astrophysical Journal 700 1732

    IOPscience

  35. Tidal Heating of Extrasolar Planets
    Brian Jackson et al. 2008 The Astrophysical Journal 681 1631

    IOPscience

Export citations: BibTeX RIS